This week, Facebook reminded users that it remembers everything, safety folks called for cellphone bans, and a nine-year war quietly ended. The headlines ranged from minor to momentous, much like this week’s Six-Word Memoirs. Whatever the range of meaning, SMITH members showed that six words is enough to make the minor powerful and the momentous [...]

I get such a rush when I walk into a new environment, often full of people who’ve never heard of Six-Word Memoirs—and then mere minutes later they’re spilling forth funny, profound, sweet, and surprising sixes.
In the last month, I’ve given talks and led workshops to a wild range of people in a wide range of [...]

This week an upcoming Playboy leaked a lot of Lohan, tweeting got Rick Larson’s congressional staffers and Alec Baldwin in big trouble, and Obama got his mojo back by invoking his inner-Teddy Roosevelt. Big stuff for high-profile individuals; on SMITH Six-Word Memoirists showed off both the wild and tame sides of the SMITH community in [...]

“My classroom is my Carnegie Hall.”
“Surprise your spouse, not your boss.”
“Who doesn’t love the payroll lady?”
What makes a good topic for a Six-Word Memoir? In short, a subject that evokes a passionate response. So when the consulting group Mercer asked me if I thought a six-word project around work would yield an enthusiastic response [...]

This week, Regis retired from ‘Live!’, 84-year-old Dorli became an Occupy icon and Bradley wins Sexiest Man. Never a group to be left out of the action, SMITH members shared their own moments, large and small, and began to get into the Thanksgiving spirit along the way. Below are the best Six-Word Memoirs of the [...]

One of my favorite days of the year is the day I hang out with Lauren Redniss’ Senior Illustration Class at Parsons School of Design in NYC. It’s a special day, in part, because it’s such a thrill to see Lauren inspiring her students in her classroom; she’s a brilliant artist and author in her [...]

This week: Boo Halloween, boohoo Kardashians, and whoa—seventh billion baby. Like the sensational headlines, Six-Word Memoirs at SMITH evoke a range of reactions from giggles to sighs. Read the best memoirs of the week and share your own reactions in the comments section below. Plus, click on each author’s name to read more of their [...]

The best thing about a smart and playful community of storytellers? You never know where they’re going to take things next. One of the most enthusiastic trends in six-word wordplay of late involves adding four more words to these two: “More… than…”
Some of the memoirs in the “More…” challenge are self-deprecating (“More pussy whipped [...]

This week, Joe the Plumber launched his campaign for Congress, Anya Ayoung-Chee won Project Runway and future British princesses gained equal rights to the throne. Universes full of possibilities for them all, and those writing Six-Word Memoirs at SMITH were contemplating their own, from babies to jobs to a certain spooky holiday. Below are the [...]

I was at a wedding this past weekend. The happy couple kissed. The dancing began. And soon enough it was toast time. One by one friends and family took the microphone to pay tribute to the bride and groom. And one by one those loving tributes turned into beautiful disasters. Still, everyone was in a [...]